Local Christmas song to raise funds for at-risk students

When Mark Werchowski wrote the song “Christmas in the Valley” in 1991, he had no idea it would be a local holiday hit more than two decades later. This year, the Utica music teacher will sell the song and all the proceeds will go towards the Young Scholars Liberty Partnerships Program.

When Mark Werchowski wrote the song "Christmas in the Valley" in 1991, he had no idea it would be a local holiday hit more than two decades later.

"I always wanted to write a Christmas song, but I didn't want it to be cheesy," said the 54-year-old Oriskany resident. "I was a working musician and those towns were the ones that support my music."

For the first few years the song was used as a fundraiser for the Stevens-Swan Humane Society, but it got off track.

Now the musician is once again selling copies for a cause.

And this year it's the Young Scholars Liberty Partnerships Program, which aims to help students — who are at risk of dropping out or are failing due to various economic and social factors — stay in school, earn an advanced Regents diploma and go on to post-secondary education.

Werchowski, a Utica City School District music teacher, heard about the programs funding difficulties and wanted to help,

And the proceeds will really go a long way, no matter how much the song raises.

"We have been conducting fundraising initiatives in all sorts of ways because we need to," said Young Scholars Director Flossie Mitchell. "This is another example of everything helps."

Due to budget shortfalls in the Utica City School District, about $150,000 in funding to the program was cut in 2012 resulting in staff cuts and a bleak outlook for the future.

"It's fun to put something out there that celebrates this season and this area in such a positive way," Mitchell said of the song. "It's very generous of him to donate the proceeds from the sales to Young Scholars. It's one of those very good acts."

Werchowski said he hopes to make this a tradition with the song benefiting a local organization every year. "I just want to keep this song going because it just does good things," he said.